Group B: land of contrasts. It wasn’t, might we date to venture, supposed to end up like this. Going into the first of the final round of group matches, it was supposed to be all about the tension and the excitement of two simultaneous matches being played, but...

As the noted football pundit Sir Elton John so sagely pointed out, it’s the circle of life. It’s the wheel of fortune. He was probably drawing on the philosophy of Boethius, whom I believe was a classmate of Sir Tim Rice’s at Lancing College....

There has seldom in the entire history of the World Cup been a week like this. Last night, holders Spain crashed out of the tournament at the very first hurdle following a chastening defeat at the hands of a Chile team that is starting to look capable of going all the...

And now, the end is near, and so I (they) face the final curtain (perhaps). It’s crunch time for Spain. Having already successfully proved that they’re not quite a match for a Netherlands side who Australia just gave a hell of a game, they face Chile...

Last night in Salvador, the 2014 World Cup finals kicked into a gear in a manner that few would have predicted before a ball was kicked. It’s easy, when exposed to te calcified culture of club football, to forget that dynasties come and go over time, but nothing...